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Staff Augmentation - What It Is And How The Model Works

A detailed explanation of the staff augmentation model, its functioning, and effectiveness in the modern IT environment.

Yuriy GolikovJuly 11, 202212 min read
Staff Augmentation - What It Is And How The Model Works

Structure

Staff Augmentation - What It Is And How The Model Works

  1. Introduction

  2. What Is Staff Augmentation?

  3. Who Chooses Staff Augmentation?

  4. When To Use Staff Augmentation Services

  5. Staff Augmentation Vs Outsourcing

  6. Top 5 Benefits Of Staff Augmentation

  7. Types Of Staff Augmentation

  8. The Top Pros & Cons Of IT Staffing

  9. Staff Augmentation Vs Other Models

  10. Steps To Find A Staff Augmentation Company

  11. DevBrother IT Staff Augmentation Services

  12. Conclusion

  13. FAQ

According to experts, the lack of qualified specialists is one of the most frequent scenarios in the IT market. Staff augmentation has become a popular word in the remote work market, attracting more and more international scalability companies to work remotely.

Introduction

The number of employees allows you to hire qualified IT professionals from outside your company and manage them as part of your internal team. These funds will go directly to resource and personnel increase, as well as service providers, which will help you avoid staffing costs, especially reduce the hassle of hiring employees.

A formal staffing service gives you access to a global talent pool to help you quickly find the right talent even among IT professionals. We can offer you services for recruiting highly qualified specialists to work remotely in our office, which is usually cheaper.

While there are many roles that can be filled through personnel increase, developers and IT firm experts are the number one type of talent hired through this method.

Today, thanks to the benefits of staff augmentation, this type of outsourcing model is growing in popularity– now a 500-billion-dollar industry. The trend is fueled by its cost-reduction results, as well as its efficiency in recruiting certified and previously vetted specialists.

What Is Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation is a staffing definition method that complements existing teams with specific talent, enhancing business capabilities or filling gaps left by members on extended leave. And, it’s a high-control strategy, granting the hiring company direct management over the augmented staff.

The meaning of staff augmentation combines a strategy of outcrossing and hiring qualified technical outside resources to temporarily or permanently fill the needed positions on your team.

Who Chooses Staff Augmentation?

Often working on projects that require some experience, and knowledge and the hiring of new employees is expensive and time-consuming. In this case, bringing on a team would be a good solution to fill the skills gap.

To make a large project close to perfection, you need to make 4-6 integrations to software development staff augmentation. Moreover, to get the job done, you need to choose an addition to the IT team in the form of a manager to ensure that it is done well.

You may be interested in outsourcing projects, but you want to have more control over the dedicated team and communicate with them directly. This is what provides the assurance that the team will deliver consistent results according to your company's policies and culture.

When to Use Staff Augmentation Services

  • Skill Gaps: When your project requires expertise that your in-house team lacks, such as specialized engineers or developers with niche skills.

  • Project Deadlines: When you need to accelerate project timelines and meet tight deadlines by quickly scaling up your development team.

  • Workload Fluctuations: When your project workload fluctuates, you need flexible staffing solutions to manage peak periods without long-term commitments.

  • Cost Management: When you want to control costs by avoiding the expenses associated with hiring full-time employees, such as benefits, training, and onboarding.

  • Focus on Core Business: When you want to focus your internal team on core business activities while outsourced specialists handle specific project tasks.

  • Project Control: When you require high control over the development process and need to manage the augmented team directly.

  • Quick Access to Talent: When you need to quickly access a pool of qualified professionals to start your project without the lengthy recruitment process.

Staff Augmentation vs Outsourcing

Staff Augmentation

Outsourcing

Integration with In-house Team

External Team Management

Augmented staff work alongside in-house team

Entire project outsourced to external team

Control and Flexibility

Cost Efficiency and Focus

Maintain control over project and resources

Cost-effective solution with less management

Flexible scaling based on project needs

Allows focus on core business activities

Skill Enhancement

Specialized Expertise

Enhance in-house team skills with specialists

Access to specialized expertise and resources

Supports team development and knowledge transfer

Leverage external proficiency and innovation

 

Top 5 Benefits Of Staff Augmentation

High Productivity Level

So using new full-time employees on a particular project is a viable option. Increased energy and time for the process of adaptation of the employee. At the same time, increasing your staff allows your organization to attract new experts to your team on a short-term basis. What's more, in doing so, you avoid many of the costs of benefits and salaries for internal employees. This gives you the ability to select employees for each specific project.

IP Rights Security

When you work with your dedicated developers, all intellectual property rights belong to you.

Flexibility

You have the opportunity to get a broad talent pool of IT professionals, from UI/UX designers and front-end developers to Scrum masters and product owners. Replacing a developer is much easier - the talent pool is larger, and if you work with such an augmentation partner, you won't have to spend extra money on replacements.

Cost Efficiency

It's a very transparent pay-for-performance system. You don't have to worry about any material costs, such as office space, workspaces, and other facilities. If you only pay the fee and the provider takes care of all the arrangements, you don't have to be distracted from your core personnel increase business model. 

Access To A Talented Pool Of Experts

What is your need for specialists with the most in-demand or specialized skills, and what kind of services do you need? The American market will seem too small and uncompetitive - or too expensive for the task at hand. Nevertheless, by outsourcing, you get to tap into a truly global pool of professionals. Not only do we have the necessary experience, but we can be much more cost-effective than local developers.

Types of Staff Augmentation

  1. Skill-based: Hiring individuals with specific skills or expertise to address gaps in your existing team's capabilities. This could include roles like software developers, UI/UX designers, data analysts, etc.

  2. Project-based: Bring temporary staff to work on a specific project or task within a defined timeframe. This allows you to scale your team up or down based on project requirements.

  3. Long-term: Hiring staff for an extended period to support ongoing projects or to fill permanent roles within your organization. This provides continuity and stability for your team.

  4. Remote: Engaging remote workers or teams to augment your in-house staff. This allows you to access a global talent pool and scale your team without geographical limitations.

  5. On-site: Bring in external staff to work alongside your in-house team at your physical location. This fosters closer collaboration and communication between team members.

  6. Managed Services: Outsourcing specific functions or services to external providers who manage and deliver those services on your behalf. This could include IT support, maintenance, or managed security services.

 

The Top Pros & Cons Of IT Staffing

In addition to this, there are many top advantages to increasing the staff, but there are also disadvantages. The following are some of them.

Here's a table summarizing the pros and cons:

Pros

Cons

Increased Productivity Level

Communication Issues

Possibility of increasing staff, a key competitive advantage.

Especially true for offshore and nearshore staff augmentation.

Workforce Transparency

Little Knowledge of Institutional Practices

Awareness of all work details for you and your team.

Company manager needs to familiarize the team with organizational policies.

Security of IP Rights

 

No concerns about intellectual property rights as the augmented team belongs to you.

 

Dynamic Teams

 

Growth of IT workforce allows for creating agile teams.

 

Cost Reduction

 

Staff growth is a better option for companies.

 

Personally Manage Your Team

 

Easier project management.

 

Increased Managerial Efforts

 

Requires a capable project manager with good field experience.

 

 

Staff Augmentation Vs Other Models

Here is an example of a comparison between the three main models of recruitment.

Managed Services

It is essentially a team augmentation vs managed services, model and is known as a spin-off development team. The company has to take responsibility human resources and personnel increase management today, at an increased staffing and complete outsourcing meaning of work. In doing so, you must increase it staff augmentation services and make them more efficient.

Your team is 100% comprised of your employees, who are fully dedicated to the project and its implementation. Also, the difference is that you and your managed team share responsibility for tasks throughout the project. You and your managed team have similar responsibilities for the scope of work on tasks in all projects.

During the division of responsibility, you and your team divide the work amongst yourselves. The division takes place independently: it consists of sharing control over the work (deadlines), deliverables, and level of service to our project projects. It has its own external project manager and controls the entire workflow in the company culture.

This team is not part of your personal group, but it also has its own internal project manager. A project that is under development can be a manager of your own or the manager of a project that has been in development.

Own R&D Center

In this personnel increase model, you can recruit many employees to your team. Thus, this is accomplished by setting up an R&D center in another country with a larger pool of specialists.

The biggest challenge in opening an R&D center is that you will have to comply with the laws and systems of the country where your center is located.

If you want to increase your staff, you do not have to spend a lot of effort and time.

Project-Based Consulting

The project-based staff augmentation vs consulting, model is designed to avoid introducing flawed solutions to the client's business because it focuses on business analysis and close collaboration between the client and a team of real experts who are brought in to solve a specific business problem and for a limited period of time.

Steps to Find a Staff Augmentation Company

Here are the steps to find a staff augmentation company:

  1. Define Your Needs

  2. Research and Shortlist Companies

  3. Evaluate Expertise and Experience

  4. Check References

  5. Discuss Pricing and Terms

  6. Evaluate Communication and Collaboration

  7. Review Contracts and Agreements

  8. Start with a Pilot Project

  9. Establish Clear Expectations

  10. Monitor Performance and Provide Feedback

DevBrother IT Staff Augmentation Services

Process

Our recruitment process is all about customer experience. We use best practices programmers in recruitment to provide our clients with a team of dedicated developers who meet their needs. Our process works as follows:

  1. Clients communicate their needs to us.

  2. The company interviews and hires developers according to the client's requirements.

  3. Execution and delivery of the project.

  4. Ongoing support.

Why Augment Your Team With DevBrother?

Due to the exclusive partnership with Coworking Spaces, we have built one of the biggest Eastern-Europe Software Engineers Database including more than 10.000 specialists with different tech-stack.

The result of this is a huge pool of experienced, reliable, and proactive experts who are able to provide the highest quality results and take on board for the best prices on the market.  We find and interview a candidate who meets your requirements. Each of the candidates receives test assignments according to our requirements. Then we get your agreement to a cooperation.

Steps:

  1. Subject.
    A team of engineers can help you find the best candidate for your specific needs. We have a huge selection base. In order to be considered, candidates must be interviewed and complete test assignments. We always make sure that our employees are professionals in their fields. In order to select one of the 20-30 people who came to us from different sources, we usually interview them. If the candidate is not a good fit, another one is found. With our help, you can find the perfect candidate who will pass all the stages of selection.

  2. Onboarding.
    Once an employee is hired, we set up the environment, and build key metrics and work methods (holding daily meetings, filing, timekeeping, etc.).

  3. Work.
    It is important for us to pay special attention to motivating and retaining employees in your team costs; it is crucial for us to provide a workplace that meets the best estimates of both parties - client and developer, ensuring all contractual obligations are met and available for communication between the parties on any issues.

Conclusion 

Overall, sourcing is a strategic approach to staffing that allows companies to expand their capabilities, fill skill gaps, and manage projects effectively. By sourcing externally, companies gain access to a global talent pool, maintain control over project management, and achieve cost efficiencies. Companies can tailor their approach to specific projects and business objectives with different sourcing models. Whether skills-based, project-based, or long-term, this staffing strategy provides flexibility, scalability, and access to specialized expertise, making it a valuable asset for companies in today's competitive landscape.

FAQ 

When should I consider using staff augmentation services?

Staff augmentation services are ideal for situations where companies must address skill gaps, accelerate project timelines, manage workload fluctuations, or control costs. It's particularly beneficial for projects that require specific expertise or temporary staffing solutions.

How do I find a reliable staff augmentation company?

To find a reliable staff augmentation company, start by defining your project needs, researching and shortlisting companies, evaluating their expertise and experience, checking references, discussing pricing and terms, and starting with a pilot project to assess performance. Look for companies with a proven track record, positive reviews, and a transparent approach to staffing.

What is staff augmentation vs. consulting?

Staff augmentation involves bringing in external resources to supplement the existing team, fill skill gaps, or manage projects. Engaged employees work under the client's guidance, easily fitting into the team. Consulting, on the other hand, involves hiring external experts to provide strategic advice and solutions independently. Consultants offer objective opinions and recommendations based on specialized knowledge, helping to develop and implement strategy.

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